Highway Patrol's Flying Wheel rolls on

Friday

Sep 1, 2000 at 12:01 AM

It's 5:45 a.m.

The lights in the dimmed hallways of the Ohio State Highway Patrol Academy blink on. Almost instantly the musical, rhythmic cadence of voices can be heard in the far recesses of the structure, like some modern Gregorian chant.

The sound builds, ever louder and ever closer to the front lobby.

Suddenly, at the far end of the corridor, a lengthy column of young men and women attired in yellow T-shirts and black shorts swing into view. As they march quickstep into the gymnasium, their lyrical strains echo through the building:

"She said call an Ohio State Trooper man, the best state trooper in the land. Sound off, one, two!..."

Among the members of the passing parade are two local faces, Ben Huff of Dalton, 22, son of Norm and Wilma Huff, and Timothy Sankoe, 28, of Orrville, son of Larry and Cheryl Zacharias of Smithville, both cadets in the patrol's 135th class which will graduate Friday.